ACC notes: Wake Forest receiver hopes for brief absence

Losing his top receiver for only two full games sounded like good news to Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe this week.

The Demon Deacons will play without Michael Campanaro on Saturday at Maryland and in two weeks at Virginia. He suffered a broken bone in his right hand last weekend against Duke.

But he won’t need surgery and could be back in action for a nationally televised game Oct. 20 against Clemson.

“He’ll just be able to keep it casted and it’ll heal up on its own,” Grobe said. “The plan right now is hopefully to have him back for Clemson, possibly not until Boston College.”

Still, Campanaro will miss this week’s game in his home state, though Grobe said the redshirt junior will probably be part of the team’s travel party.

“The bad news is I really think he was looking forward to coming back close to home,” Grobe said.

Trying to find a replacement for a player who four weeks into the season ranked second nationally in receptions is troublesome.

“We can’t (compensate for the loss of Campanaro), I don’t think,” Grobe said. “In our case, (Campanaro) was just kind of an invaluable guy because he was worth 100, 150 yards of offense every week and that’s a big chunk to take out of your football team.”

-- LINING UP A DIFFERENT GROUP: North Carolina State will be going with another combination of offensive linemen, a troubling issue for coach Tom O’Brien.

“The problem we have right now is we're starting our fifth offensive line in six games,” he said. “ We only have one guy that we came into the season in the position that we wanted guys to be in. That's definitely going to be a concern for us Saturday night against this great front of Florida State.”

Lineman Zach Allen, who had been the regular at right guard, won’t play against Florida State because of a foot injury and pending surgery.

The Wolfpack did have some experience help on board last week at Miami when Duran Christophe, a redshirt junior, made his first start of the season when he was at left guard. He started in all except one game last year.

-- JUST HIKE IT: With senior Sean Renfree nursing an injured right elbow, Duke’s quarterback situation is a bit in question going into Saturday’s game against visiting Virginia.

If Renfree doesn’t play, it could come down to Anthony Boone and Brandon Connette.

“Those guys have been good enough,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said of the backups. “We won't change. Disregard who is at quarterback, we're going to be who we are.”

-- WHITE ABOUT IT: North Carolina is calling for a “white out” for Saturday afternoon’s home game against Virginia Tech.

The Tar Heels will wear white jerseys and pants — their normal road gear — for the game at Kenan Stadium. They’ll also wear white helmets for the first time since the 1960s.